The gruesome murder of 3 police personnel in Kashmir last month should and must send a stern warning to the BJP Government at Delhi. This is first of its kind in J & K, that the terrorists barging into the residences of the police personnel, kidnapping them at gunpoint in front of the wailing family members, and killing them in a gruesome manner.
The Journo-Naxal Shekhar Gupta, the menial Mani Shankar Iyer and the turncoat Navjot Singh Sidhu were the motivational push to Pakistan to indulge in this kind of Timur acts. The failure on the part of the BJP Government in prosecuting this threesome is further pushing our nation’s self-respect into the deep gorge. The penal provisions of the law of the land in respect of the nature of the offences committed by this band is crystal clear and stands for a strong case for prosecution for ‘treason’. Yet, that itself is not enough to send them to jail, unless a confident and a gallant Government of the day, take a resolute decision in this regard.
We have been observing for the last 4 yrs, this BJP Government under Modi’s leadership is fearing the ‘Media’ more than the UPA did in the past. It is a fact that our media is pro-Congress and a die-hard antagonist of the BJP. Yet, that should not be the excuse anymore. And the BJP Government cannot rest its hope of winning elections always on ‘self-pity’ or “sympathy” factors. At any point in time, this ‘pity’ factor may turn around and boomerang on BJP’s election prospects. The people would only appreciate the Government’s resolute action against traitors and terrorists, but not mollycoddling them, fearing the media backlash, always.
Journo Naxal Shekhar Gupta: I still remember, how Shekhar Gupta had put up a false brave face when the then India Today’s first Gujarati edition was released and received badly in Gujarat. The Gujaratis were in fact badly hurt for its anti-Hindu tirade. His April 2012 article (co-written with Ritu Sarin and Pranab Dhal Samanta) in the Indian Express titled ”The January night Raisina Hill was spooked”. Two key Army units moved towards Delhi without notifying Govt” had created quite a tumult in the nation. The people were in fact quite confused and shocked by this smear propaganda orchestrated by Shekhar Gupta. Lots of criticism and admonishments were followed after this publication appeared in the Indian Express daily yet the point was, the authors and the IE were ignored by the Government despite the content of the article being highly in bad taste and utterly whimsical in nature. The message of the article was that “the Indian Army was preparing to revolt in a mutiny fashion against the elected Government headed by the PM Mr Manmohan Singh”. Almost all critics including the critics from the Leftist domain had rejected this report as pure imagination.
Their target was the then Army Chief General V K Singh. The reason why the Left lenient liberal media had the then Army Chief their target was, he was showing right-wing traits and exhibiting unadulterated true patriotism, which was not in conformity with the left lenient media’s definition of plastic patriotism that was also not supposed to hurt Pakistan in any manner.
This smear article was enough to create Xenophobia and Philophobia, among the citizens. This article despite entirely based on false and fancy grounds was not taken seriously either by the UPA Government or by the succeeding Modi Government in 2014. So, prosecuting the writers was totally unlikely then. The UPA Government had its own reservation in moving against the writers, and similarly the succeeding Modi Government. It is pertinent to recollect that our PM Modi was then Gujarat CM when this story was broke and surprisingly Modi remarked via a tweet saying “read IE story about armed forces. PM (MMS) should clear the air so that the confidence of the people is not moved’.
So PM Modi having said this on the IE Story while he was the CM of Gujarat at the relevant time, it would be unthinkable that his own Government would later initiate an enquiry against the story and file an FIR against the authors?
Apart, let us examine how strong the case would have been under the Indian Penal Code and Army’s Act.
“Whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report.
(b) with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquillity; or
It is so clear from the above the article under reference had caused commotion, alarm, fear and tarnished the hitherto held ‘clean’ image of the Indian Army in one stroke.
The Indian Army Act
-Section 36,37 and many other sections in the IAA 1950, prescribes punishments for similar offences like creating a false alarm, mayhem with an intent to create enmity, apprehensions, degrade the reputation of the Armed Forces and its integrity. However, in India, civilians cannot be court-martialed for offences relating to the Armed Personnel unlike in Pakistan. Pakistan has diligently included civilians in the relevant Acts so as to punish the civilians who violates the Army Act in deserving cases. Indian Government should look into this aspect as it has become more warranted in changing situations.
Mani Shankar Iyer gave a clarion call for war against India from our enemy land Pakistan.
That infamous absurdity call given by the Congress leader Mani Shankar Iyer from a Pakistani TV studio, seeking the help of our arch enemy Pakistan for ousting our PM Modi, is still fresh in our memories. He first dared the Indian Government before entering Pakistan, dared India from Pakistan soil and dared to return India smilingly. No action was taken by our Government for this pure ‘treason’.
Navjot Singh Sidhu. I once considered him as BJP’s asset. He is most of the time intelligent, always articulate, good speaker, but with a weak heart. His ideological adherence is a total zero. In some people, self-indulgence takes over ideological commitment. This is what happened with Sidhu. He too dared 126 crores Indians and the Government of the day, visited Pakistan on the invitation of Imran Khan the would be PM then, his one-time Cricket colleague, and as if all is not enough, hugged the ‘Timur of Pakistan’ the Army General Bajwa. What an awkwardness experience back home for Indians! Is this what we expected from Sidhu in return?
Why the Government never even think of punishing such traitors? The reason is we are ‘done’ with such humiliations in the past. It can no more be called, a ‘humiliation’ and the other political reason could be panic. The fear of media backlash in case if any stringent action taken against the above ‘band’ of three. I wish to warn the Government that any smugness on the Government part may cost the nation very dearly.
The incident of the gruesome murder of 3 cops in Kashmir last month is the direct result of our haplessness in punishing our own traitors, which is sending a wrong message to even ‘terror outfits’. If the Government is silent and pusillanimous, then the perpetrators will be more inspired and continue their blaze only to destroy this unity of India. Mr Navjot Singh Sidhu is continuing his pro-Pakistan and anti-India rant till date, because of the inaction of our Government in punishing such elements timely.
People would appreciate bravery rather than pampering. Lost is lost, be brave for the future.
About the author: Krishna Baalu Iyer: Retd Central Govt officer-Right WingActivist- ‘Citizens for true secularism’ Hyderabad and Bengaluru-Poet, columnist, writer, traveller, Indian History, Heritage.
